Chemical characteristics of size-resolved aerosols in winter in Beijing

Size-resolved aerosols were continuously collected by a Nano Sampler for 13 days at an urban site in Beijing during winter 2012 to measure the chemical composition of ambient aerosol particles. Data collected by the Nano Sampler and an ACSM (Aerodyne Aerosol Chemical Speciation Monitor) were compared. Between the data sets, similar trends and strong correlations were observed, demonstrating the validity of the Nano Sampler. PM10 and PM2.5 concentrations during the measurement were 150.5 ± 96.0 μg/m3 (mean ± standard variation) and 106.9 ± 71.6 μg/m3, respectively. The PM2.5/PM10 ratio was 0.70 ± 0.10, indicating that PM2.5 dominated PM10. The aerosol size distributions showed that three size bins of 0.5–1, 1–2.5 and 2.5–10 μm contributed 21.8%, 23.3% and 26.0% to the total mass concentration (TMC), respectively. OM (organic matter) and SIA (secondary ionic aerosol, mainly SO42 −, NO3− and NH4+) were major components of PM2.5. Secondary compounds (SIA and secondary organic carbon) accounted for half of TMC (about 49.8%) in PM2.5, and suggested that secondary aerosols significantly contributed to the serious particulate matter pollution observed in winter. Coal burning, biomass combustion, vehicle emissions and SIA were found to be the main sources of PM2.5. Mass concentrations of water-soluble ions and undetected materials, as well as their fractions in TMC, strikingly increased with deteriorating particle pollution conditions, while OM and EC (elemental carbon) exhibited different variations, with mass concentrations slightly increasing but fractions in TMC decreasing.